The Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies

It’s getting more difficult by the day to keep up with the changes in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency market. Even for the lucky few of us who get to spend our days reading whitepapers and refreshing coinmarketcap.com, the sheer volume of information is overwhelming.

The first way we sought to address the problem was with long-form articles such as the Top 50 Cryptocurrencies and the Top 20 Ethereum Tokens. These articles help to introduce investors to new projects in a concise manner, as well as provide links to resources for further research.

However, we felt that the information could be distilled even further. And so, in an effort to create the most concise possible overview of the cryptocurrency market, we began work on a Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies.

Do note that there wasn’t a set criteria for deciding which cryptocurrencies would make the table, nor for determining the order in which they are included. The cryptocurrency market changes incredibly quickly, so we may update this table in the future to include new projects that have gained relevance and to take out any projects that have lost it.

For a more scientific take on a periodic table of cryptocurrencies, check outDr Aleksandar Arsov’s proposalon blockchain categoization. His paper puts forth the idea of a “theory of cryptocurrency periodic table policy in Altcoin markets with focus on supply rigidities identified with aggregate supply in cryptocurrency markets.”

The Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies

Categories of Cryptocurrencies

The Periodic Table of Elements consists of 118 elements that fall into 8 different categories.

Try as we might, 8 categories couldn’t quite cut it for cryptocurrencies, but we managed 9. These categories are listed below, along with brief explanations of the factors that contribute to a coin or token being included in a given category.

Note that there are many cryptocurrencies that could fall into multiple categories. That’s particularly the case with Business & Enterprise vs. Platforms. We tried to place each coin and token in the category that was most appropriate, but it’s expected that some readers might feel that different categorizations work better for specific cryptocurrencies.

(If we receive strong feedback that a coin or token has been miscategorized, we may consider updating it in future editions of the table.)

Currencies – Coins used primarily for payments and to store value.

Protocols, Exchanges, and Interoperability – Projects building decentralized infrastructure to exchange cryptocurrencies and enable communication between different blockchains.

About Daniel Frumkin

Daniel began his career as a mechanical engineer but has now transitioned into working full-time in the cryptocurrency space. Besides writing for Invest In Blockchain, Daniel also works on several other educational projects including Coins2Learn, a cryptocurrency market simulator platform.

Seena

Hi Daniel, I love your crypto periodic table. It makes it easy to explain to new comers. Can I please have permission to use your table in my website and for training/educational purposes. Obviously I will clearly display that you are the creator. PS my chemistry friends found it most interesting!

Hi Seena,
I’m glad that you like the table and please feel free to use it on your website 🙂 Also that’s nice that they didn’t hate on it, I worried that chemistry people won’t like it since it’s so much less intuitive than the organization of the real periodic table with atomic number and everything. I appreciate the kind words!

The Daily Bit

Hey Daniel, awesome post!! We’re super interested in classifying digital assets into suitable market sectors and think that your table is a cool, yet insightful way to approach the discussion.

Because of that, we decided to talk about your article in the Education section of our daily newsletter for Tuesday. We gave the appropriate credit to the Invest In Blockchain team and are happy to share a link to the full newsletter once it is released. You can also subscribe at http://www.thedailybit.news

Kaefer

Philip Rhoades

Great idea!
Two responses:
1. The table needs to be interactive so people can look at more detail more conveniently
2. The info needs to include stuff about the number of nodes operating on the system – ie how distributed some coins / tokens really are . .

1. I’d like to make it more interactive in the future but my idea for that will take a LOT of work so we’ll see if it ever makes sense to do it.
2. I agree that would be cool. However, the reason that I didn’t include any metrics like # of nodes or MC is that they aren’t constants, and I don’t want the table to get outdated so quickly.

sumiflow

I love the table. It’s almost perfect but there’s just one thing that itches my OCD. Why is Bitcoin’s square a different color with no definition? IMO it belongs in the “Payments/Currency” category. You could argue that it’s a store of value but then I would say so is almost every other token in that category.

Thanks! And I’m not sure that this explanation will satisfy your OCD, but I made it a different color intentionally to differentiate it from all of the other coins and tokens and call extra attention to it. It does best fit the “Payments/Currency” category, but it is also a fundamental building block without which the table wouldn’t exist. As the only coin for which that is the case, I felt it should also be the only coin with a color all to itself.

cryptomiam

Hello
IOTA is a cryptocurrency PLATFORM whose vision is to create a foundation for the “Economy of Things”. The Economy of Things is a marketplace for that data which is produced by the Internet of Things (IoT). (copy of iota description )
you put it on Others he s place is in Platforms surely.
Good Job

Hi
IOTA may use the word ‘platform’ in its description, but the meaning of the word in that context is much different from the definition I used. Since IOTA’s primary purpose is not smart contracts and decentralized applications, it is not the type of platform that qualifies for that category.

Daniel

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